PUBG Corp has announced another patch with some pretty significant changes to weapon balance, bug fixes, map selection, and map improvements for Miramar.

Weapon & Item Balance

Pistols in general have received a significant damage upgrade while ARs using 5.6 ammo have had a 1 point reduction in damage. The pump action shotgun and 2 barrel both received a 1 point nerf as well. Under DMRs the SKS has 4 points less damage, while the VSS and Mini 14 both received a single point increase in damage.

SMGs also have received a single point boost except for the Tommy gun which has remained the same. Finally, LMGs have both received a damage boos with the DP29 increasing by 2 points and the M249 by 1 point.

My thoughts: The go to AR for many of us has been the SCAR and M416 as these have been proven to be reliably accurate even at full auto with a decent amount of damage. The 30% increase in reload time is significant and makes SMGs more desirable in close to mid-range combat rather than fully relying on two ARs as we have often done. Additionally, the recoil increase on all the ARs except for the AKM which already bucks more than the other rifles means controlling fire in bursts will be more important.

Reducing the vertical recoil on SMGs makes it a lot more dangerous for full auto close range combat and makes the weapons more viable in mid-range combat as well.

Increasing the recoil on all the DMRs means we will see less spamming of the fire as careful consideration will be needed inbetween each shot.

The crossbow gets a reload speed buff from 4 seconds down to 3.5. If you can aim well, the crossbow will be more deadly with less time vulnerable between shots.

It appears that grenades won’t knock anymore and the explosion damage is what will count against a player. However, frag grenades have had their weight increased so the end-game spam of grenades will be significantly less.

Weapons

ARs – rebalanced ARs so none is the “objective” best—the power differential between each is now reduced, but each brings advantages to different situations.

SMGs – adjusted them to be more effective in short range combat

Shotguns – increased overall damage and effective range

Pistols

Increased the damage of the P92, P1911, P18C, R1895, and R45

Shotguns

Increased limb shots modifier (shooting limbs now does more damage)

Slightly decreased the damage of the S686 and S1897

Reduced pellet spread by 25%

Shotgun chokes can now be attached to the sawed-off

SMGs

Increased limb shots modifier

Slightly increased the damage of the Micro UZI, UMP9, and Vector

Decreased vertical recoil on all SMGs

Decreased recoil and scope sway when moving in ADS (aiming down sights)

Increased ADS transition speed

ARs

Slightly decreased the damage of the M16A4, SCAR-L, AUG, and M416

Increased reload time by 30% for the SCAR-L, M16A4, and M416

Increased reload time by 10% for the AKM

Increased vertical and horizontal recoil for all ARs except the AKM

Decreased recoil recovery rate for all ARs

Restricted big scopes (8x and up) for use with all ARs

Added new recoil animations for all ARs

DMRs

Increased head, body, and limb shot modifier

Decreased the damage of the SKS

Slightly increased the damage of the VSS and Mini14

Increased vertical and horizontal recoil for all DMRs

Decreased the recoil recovery rate for all DMRs

Added new recoil animations for all DMRs

Other guns

Slightly increased the damage of the DP28 and M249

Restricted big scopes (8x and up) for use with LMGs (DP28, M249)

Reduced crossbow reloading time from 4 seconds to 3.5 seconds

Weapon sway has been adjusted for all weapons (slightly increased side-to-side movement). And sway is now more pronounced when holding your breath.

Weapon sway when moving is now also reduced by the cheek pad attachment

Cheek pads now help you recover from weapon sway more quickly after moving

Throwables

Frag grenades

Increased explosion damage and added new hit effects and animations

Previously, grenade damage was greatly dependant on fall damage (from the grenade’s knockback effect) rather than explosion. We’ve removed the grenade’s knockback effect for player characters, and have adjusted it so that only explosion damage is applied when you’re struck by a grenade.

You can now change the reticle style and color on the red-dot, holo-sight, and 2x scope using the scope zeroing keys (Page Up/Page Down by default).

Boat and Swimming Adjustments

Boats now sink when destroyed

We’ve made some adjustments to the way swimming works to reduce the effectiveness of hiding underwater.

We’ve decreased the maximum submersible time from 35 to 15 seconds

Once you’ve run out of air, you’ll now take 10 damage per second (up from four damage per second)

We’ve increased the delay for breath recovery time from one to four seconds. (In other words, when you lift your head up out of the water, it’ll now take four seconds before you begin to recover your breath)